Tasty Morsels

Dr. Deah Schwartz has been busy lately. Her website, Leftoverstogo, has two active blogs as well as resources that support HAES and the treatment of eating disorders, particularly binge eating disorder (BED). The two blogs are Tasty Morsels, which features articles on body image, size acceptance, Health at Every Size, and arts therapy; and current events, which links to news stories, event information, and blog posts of interest.

There are two new posts on Tasty Morsels, The Time Fat Continuum aka Thoughts about the DREADED FRESHMAN 15 (pretty much self-explanatory) and America the Dutiful, about Darryl Roberts' documentary "America the Beautiful 2: The Thin Commandments (A Look at our Unhealthy Obsession with Dieting and Other Weighty Matters)," and his process of discovery as he researched the subject matter, as described to a group of HAES activists and professionals.

Roberts may have been preaching to the choir but he was hitting all of the right notes as he brought us along his path of discovery that included debunking the myths behind America’s “Thin Commandments” exploring the unhealthy obsession with dieting by the American people, and unveiling the discrepancies behind the rarely disputed message that in order to be healthy you have to be thin. As Darryl continued to work on the film he found more and more evidence that despite the fact that health may come in a variety of sizes, BMI continues to hold an enormous amount of unsubstantiated clout as the barometer of health and definer of obesity.

You could practically hear the choruses of amen and hallelujahs from the people on the call each time Mr. Roberts presented another revelation he experienced during his research. Here was someone who began his exploration into this arena without a bias towards our point of view and yet he was concurring with our most prized beliefs; one of which was the mainstream media’s role in defining the standards for beauty and how those homogenous images contribute to body dissatisfaction among girls and women that often result in disordered eating and full blown eating disorders.

And just when I thought it couldn’t get any better, Darryl Roberts told us a story...